Protecting Our Health Care

Health Care is Personal

When Tammy was nine, she came down with a serious illness similar to spinal meningitis. She spent three months in the hospital. But even after she got better, she was labeled as a child with a “pre-existing condition.”

Her grandparents were already struggling to pay out-of-pocket for Tammy’s hospitalization, but it suddenly became nearly impossible for them to find her any insurance, at any price.

Tammy took these lessons to heart and championed important reforms in the Affordable Care Act. Her push to allow kids to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until they are 26 years old has helped cover millions of young Americans. Her efforts to protect people with illnesses has made sure no one is denied care because of a pre-existing condition.

Recently, some in Washington pushed partisan repeal efforts that would have removed these protections and ripped health care away from millions of Americans. Tammy stood up and led the fight to protect our health care.

Right now, Washington is pushing to allow insurance companies to sell Wisconsinites junk plans that could deny coverage or charge more if you had a pre-existing condition. Tammy is leading the effort to stop this sabotage with new legislation that would end the concept of pre-existing conditions once and for all.

Health Care for Every Wisconsinite

Through her early life experiences, Tammy learned firsthand that no one should be denied medical care. And when it comes to providing affordable health care for every American, there is more we must do — right now — to change the status quo, improve our health care system and lower costs.

To achieve the goal of universal health care coverage, Tammy helped introduce the Medicare for All Act. Medicare for All would simplify a complicated system for families and reduce administrative costs for businesses. It would expand coverage to the uninsured, make health care more affordable for working families, and reduce growing prescription drug costs.

Tammy has also joined other efforts to expand coverage and lower health care costs for Wisconsinites. The Medicare at 55 Act would allow Americans between 55 and 64 to buy into Medicare. Tammy worked together with her colleagues on legislation to allow states to offer people the choice of buying into Medicaid, granting more Wisconsinites the opportunity to enroll in our popular BadgerCare program. Tammy is also working on a reform that would provide all Americans, individuals and companies with a public option to purchase Medicare.

While Washington is consumed by partisan squabbling and harmful efforts to take people’s health care away, Tammy has pushed to find common ground on solutions that work for the American people. It’s time to make good on the guarantee of high-quality, affordable health care coverage for every American. That is a goal worth reaching, and as Americans, we shouldn’t let anyone tell us we can’t achieve it.